Metal and similar detectors cannot detect a person trained to use their body as a weapon. An Israeli firm looks to detect a person’s intentions instead.

“Security experts say focus is shifting from analyzing the content
of carry-ons to analyzing the content of passengers' intentions and
emotions.”
—
“One firm, WeCU (pronounced "We See You") Technologies,
employs a combination of infra-red technology, remote sensors and imagers,
and flashing of subliminal images, such as a photo of Osama bin Laden.
Developers say the combination of these technologies can detect a person's
reaction to certain stimuli by reading body temperature, heart rate
and respiration, signals a terrorist unwittingly emits before he plans
to commit an attack.”
—
“… a passenger may pass through a security screening without
realizing it. For example, passengers could use an automated check-in
system or gaze at a screen with departures information without realizing
they've just been exposed to the words "Islamic jihad" written
in Arabic.

“These stimuli, explains Givon, will intrinsically elicit some
sort of biometric response -- whether the passenger knows it or not
-- that can be picked up by WeCU's strategically placed sensors.”
[Quoted from cnn.com]

“Dr. Prabir Bhattacharya, in collaboration with Abu Sayeed Sohail,
a graduate student from the University of Concordia in Montreal, Canada,
has managed to develop a piece of computer software that is able to
determine a person's mood just by analyzing a scanned picture of their
face. The system doesn't even require the whole face to be present in
the photograph, since it can detect and classify a number of facial
expressions by focusing on just 15 key points on a person's physiognomy.“
[Quoted from softpedia.com]

“Several thousand genes in the human genome have been linked
to a heritable genetic disease. The majority of these appear to be non-essential
genes (i.e. are not embryonically lethal when inactivated) and one could
therefore speculate that they are late additions in the evolutionary
lineage towards humans. Contrary to this expectation, we find that they
are in fact significantly over represented among the genes that have
emerged during the early evolution of the metazoa. Using a phylostratigraphic
approach, we have studied the evolutionary emergence of such genes at
19 phylogenetic levels. The majority of disease genes was already present
in the eukaryotic ancestor and the second largest number has arisen
around the time of evolution of multicellularity. Conversely, genes
specific to the mammalian lineage are highly underrepresented...
—
“Our data show that disease associated genes are not simply a
random subset of all genes in the human genome. There is a clear bias
towards old genes among them and the more recently evolved genes are
seldomly disease associated. On the other hand, disease associated genes
appear to be a typical subset of all types of older genes, i.e. their
overall functional spectrum is not different from the whole set, as
judged from the GO-term analysis. This makes it even more surprising
that newly evolved genes are rarely found among them.
—
“Our findings have some general evolutionary implications. Although
interaction network and transcriptional analyses suggest that disease
genes are not concentrated in hubs (Goh et al. 2007; Feldman et al.
2008), their ancient origin suggests that they are nonetheless involved
in old biological processes. In fact, it has been shown that disease
causing mutations tend to occur at conserved positions in the proteins
(Mooney et al. 2002; Miller and Kumar 2001). Although there is - to
our knowledge - currently no general theory on the emergence of genetic
diseases, one would nonetheless not have suspected that biological processes
that have emerged early in evolution should be most vulnerable to them.
Disease causing mutations should affect fitness and should therefore
be lost over time. Thus, over extended evolutionary times, one could
expect that genes that are subject to such mutations could become optimized
to reduce these detrimental effects. However, since this is apparently
not the case, one can conclude that genetic diseases are an inescapable
component of life.
—
“A more practical implication of our finding concerns biomedical
research strategies. Given that over 90% of the disease genes have emerged
before the bilaterian radiation, it seems highly justified to use organisms
that are evolutionarily very remote from humans, such as nematodes or
insects, as models for studying the function of disease genes. Conversely,
the prevalent use of mouse as a model system would not seem as pressing
as it currently is, since there are less than 2% of disease genes which
would not also be present in zebrafish, for example (although the functional
roles of some of these genes may change over time - Liao and Zhang 2008).
Furthermore, to understand the context of the biological processes in
which a gene is involved, it may be advisable to use model organisms
that represent the evolutionary level at which these genes emerged.”

“Still, when Plomin and
his co-workers unveiled the results
of their microarray study - the biggest dragnet for intelligence-linked
genes ever undertaken - they were underwhelming. The researchers found
only six genetic markers that showed any sign of having an influence
on the test scores. When they ran stringent statistical tests to see
if the results were flukes, only one gene passed. It accounted for 0.4
percent of the variation in the scores. And to cap it all off, no one
knows what the gene does in the body.”
—
“ …microarrays that could detect 500,000 genetic markers—hundreds
of times more than he had previously used. He and his colleagues got
cheek swabs from 7,000 children, isolated their DNA, and ran it through
the microarrays. And once more the results were disappointing.”
— [speculative]
“In recent years, scientists have also published a number of studies
in which they claim to have found distinctive patterns of brain functioning
in people who score high on intelligence tests. Recently Haier and Rex
Eugene Jung of the University of New Mexico surveyed 37 studies examining
regional brain size or activity to look for an overall pattern to their
results. As Plomin would have predicted, Haier and Jung found no one
"intelligence spot" in the brain. Instead they identified
a number of significant regions scattered around the cortex. Other studies
have implicated each of these regions in different kinds of cognition.
"It looks like intelligence is built on these fundamental cognitive
processes, like attention and memory, and maybe language ability,"
Haier says.

“Along with describing the gray matter tissue that makes up the
cortex, these studies also find the signature of intelligence in the
white matter that links distant parts of the cortex to one another.
People with high intelligence tend to have tracts of white matter that are more organized
than other people. "The white matter is like the wiring,"
Haier says. "If you think about it, you know, intelligence really
requires processing power and speed; the white matter would give it
the speed; the gray matter would give it the processing power."
”

“But new evidence suggests that parents may also pass on a common
virus to their offspring hereditarily. Researchers estimate that one
of every 116 newborns may have human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infections
that originated when the virus inserted its genetic material into that
of their parents' DNA.”
—
“Scientists have long believed that they were infected in utero
when viral particles from their pregnant mothers crossed the placental
barrier. But a recent study published in Pediatrics documents a new
mechanism for infection in which HHV-6 integrated into parental DNA
is passed on at conception.

“Following childhood infection HHV-6 remains latent in the human
body, although it may reactivate in immunocompromised patients, potentially
triggering complications, such as pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation
of the brain and spinal cord). In less than 1 percent of all adults,
the virus can also quietly slip its own DNA into the human genome—making
it possible for mothers and fathers to pass HHV-6 to their offspring
if these insertions are present in their eggs or sperm.”

“Free-piston engines aren't new: they were invented in the 1920s.
But the increased recent focus on hybrid cars has led a growing number
of research groups and automakers to start research programs to develop
the technology. Unlike in conventional engines, there is no mechanical
connection between the piston and a crankshaft (hence the name free-piston).
Since the design allows for improved combustion and less friction, the
engines could be far more efficient in generating electricity than either
conventional generators or newer fuel-cell technology.”
—
“Van Blarigan's experiments suggest that these engines could be
50 percent efficient at generating electricity--close to the efficiency
of hydrogen fuel cells and much more efficient than conventional generators.
Free-piston engines are efficient in part because they have fewer moving
parts than conventional engines do. The engine configuration also makes
it practical to tune the engine so that the fuel in a combustion chamber
burns very quickly. Faster combustion allows the engine to get more
work out of a given amount of fuel, improving efficiency. It can also
improve emissions.

“The free-piston design can also allow the engine to be instantly
optimized for different fuels, such as hydrogen, natural gas, ethanol,
gasoline, and diesel. Ideally, drivers could use whatever fuel is cheap
and readily available.”

The following type of technology, in theory,
goes back nearly 50 years. It is now making steady, but slow, progress
over the past few years. As usual, these advances tend to be over-hyped;
this is not the first such material arrangement of this type under investigation.

From Synthesis and Spectral Properties of Nanocrystalline
V-Substituted In2S3 [indium sulphide],
a Novel Material
for More Efficient Use of Solar Radiation. Image: acs.org

“Current photovoltaic (PV) devices and photocatalysts can use
solar light through a process in which the absorption of one photon
by a semiconductor leads in the latter to the promotion of an electron
from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band (CB) with the subsequent
production of electric current or chemical reactions. Within this mechanism,
photons with energy lower than the forbidden band gap width Eg cannot
be used. In recent years it has been proposed that the insertion of
an additional level (the intermediate band, IB) in the forbidden gap
could provide an additional path for attaining the same final excitation
result through the absorption of two photons with energy lower than
Eg, similarly to what happens in natural photosynthesis [...]”
[Quoted from acs.org]

“Today's solar cells absorb only visible light, wasting the infrared
that makes up half of the Sun's output that reaches Earth. But a new
material developed in Spain can absorb infrared too, and should make
it possible to hike the power solar cells can produce, say researchers.

“Conventional solar cells are based on a semiconductor such as
silicon. But their inability to soak up infrared gives them a theoretical
absorption limit of just over 40% of solar energy. In practice, they
only absorb about 30%..”
—
“Their idea was to create a kind of energy "stepping stone".
Instead of having to jump to the higher energy level in one go, electrons
can absorb a low-energy photon and then wait at an intermediate energy
level until another arrives to let it complete the trip.”

“The new material, though, can harness both visible and infrared
photons, so it has a theoretical maximum efficiency of 63%, its creators
say, and should give significantly better real-world performance [than
silicon].” [Quoted from newscientist.com]

It’s getting ever more difficult to keep
up with the progress in material sciences, and with checking the veracity
of the deluge of claims. Here are two from this week.

“Currently available electrolyzers, which split water with electricity
and are often used industrially, are not suited for artificial photosynthesis
because they are very expensive and require a highly basic (non-benign)
environment that has little to do with the conditions under which photosynthesis
operates.” [Quoted from web.mit.edu]

I’m not sure how he intends to store the
hydrogen in any useful quantity.

“Sapphire Energy announced today they have produced renewable
91 octane gasoline that conforms to ASTM
certification, made from a breakthrough process that produces crude
oil directly from sunlight, CO2 and photosynthetic microorganisms,
beginning with algae.”
“Sapphire’s scalable production facilities can grow easily
and economically because production is modular, transportable, and fueled
by sunlight - not constrained by land, crops, or other natural resources.”
—
“Products and processes in this category differ significantly
from other forms of biofuel because they are made solely from photosynthetic
microorganisms, sunlight and CO2; do not result in biodiesel or ethanol;
enhance and replace petroleum-based products; are carbon neutral and
renewable; and don’t require any food crop or agricultural land.”
[Quoted from sapphireenergy.com]

This item is being reported in various places
with a degree of confusion. The technology is alleged to produce a useful
energy at a density higher than petrol (gas) or diesel, and at an order
of magnitude (ten times) higher than lithium battery technology.

The claim seems to be that this fuel-cell battery combination
can be charged like an ‘ordinary’ battery and, when the charge
is run down, the combination becomes a fuel cell. The fuel cell/battery
cannibalises energy in some manner from its vanadium-boride anode, as
it then acts as a fuel-cell. The anode can then be replaced., for instance
at a garage in the manner of a petrol fill-up, and the anode can then
be returned to functionality.

There are also suggestions that other combinations,
including lithium and aluminium-[aluminum]-based systems, can be developed
in this direction.

I get the impression that the reports I have seen so
far are written by authors who do not fully understand the claims, and
I certainly do not have a good outline grasp of the system!

So, I am linking this report for others to look
at, without much confidence that I understand it!

“Energy capacity comparison of gasoline (petrol), hydrogen
and electrochemical energy sources. The intrinsic energy of gasoline
yields a maximum practical efficiency of 30% due to Carnot and
friction losses. Air fuel cells do not have this Carnot inefficiency,
and have practical capacities instead constrained by overpotential
losses, and the requisite volume of the air anode and all other
cell components. Volumetric capacity of liquid H2 is constrained
by its density of 0.0708 kg L-1. Shaded superimposed on solid,
colors, compare intrinsic and practical capacities.”